Business Rates & The Proposed Changes

The Spring Budget is soon to arrive, and with that and the new tax year creeping towards us, we’re bringing you updates on new legislation set to launch from April 2017. One of these is changes to business rates in the UK.

What are Business Rates?

Business rates are charged on most non-domestic properties, such as shops, offices, pubs, warehouses and factories.

There are some exemptions to the scheme for farm buildings and land, fish farms and places of public religious worship. More information on these can be found here.

What are the changes?

From 1st April 2017, the government has proposed to permanently double the Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) from 50% to 100%, and also increase the thresholds to benefit a greater number of businesses.

This means that businesses will qualify for different relief amounts dependent on their rateable value:

Businesses that occupy property with a rateable value of £12,000 and below (doubling from £6,000 and below) will receive 100% relief.

Properties with a rateable value between £12,000 and £15,000 will qualify for tapered relief.

How does it work?

For an example of how the current and proposed schemes for business rates relief work, check out our handy infographic below:

Are there other changes being implemented?

The government also proposed to modernise the administration of business rates to revalue properties more frequently and make it easier for businesses to pay the taxes that are due.

Business rates will also, from 2020, be updated by reference to the CPI instead of the RPI (which is generally lower).